Water-motor.



J. T PLUMER.

Patnted Jan. 19, 1915.

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J. T. PLUMER.

WATER MOTOR.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 12 1913.

1,125,594&, Patented. Jan. 19, 1915.

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WATER MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.12. 1913. 1, 1 2 5,594, Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

HE NORRIS PETERS ca. FHDTO-LITHD.. WASHINGTON, D. C.

UNITED STATES FEN'F @FFFQE.

JAMES T. PLUMER, OF SALT LICK, KENTUCKY.

. WATER-MOTOR.

Application filed. August 12, 191-3.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMEs T. PLUMER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Salt Lick, in the county of Bath and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and Improved Water-Motor, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descr1ption.

This invention relates to improvements in water motors designed for deriving power from the flow or current of a body of water, and the principal object of the invention 1s to provide a motor which includes a plurality of movable cross armscarrying floats, said arms being movable with respect to the axis of the motor or water Wheel, whereby as the wheel is caused to rotate due to the travel of the floats in the flowing body, said cross arms will be elevated when they become vertically disposed, thus increasing the leverage of the upper portions of the arms, tending to offer less resistance and assist in the continuous rotation of the motor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a water or current motor which may be mounted upon a float or other support having a channelway into which the motor extends to be rotated as aforesaid, the cross arms carrying the floats being designed for movement with respect to a common supporting shaft, while means are provided for holding the cross arms in their elevated positions as well as to limit the movements thereof relative to the shaft as the cross tions during the rotation of the motor.

,With the above and other objects in view,

the invention resides more particularly in the peculiar combination and arrangement of parts which will be illustrated as a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings and described in the specification.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views and in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a water motor constructed in accordance with the invention, the section being taken on the line 11 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view of the improved water motor with certain of the parts broken away; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view in elevation of the means for holding one of the cross arms and floats carried thereby in Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 19, 1915.

Serial No. 784,294.

their elevated positions during the rotation of the motor, as well as the abutment members carried by the stationary portions of the device'to limit the movements of the cross arms and floats; Fig. 4 is a cross sectional View taken on the line H of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4: but showing an anti-friction means carried by the movable cross arms to engage stationary arms permanently secured to disks carried near the ends of the shaft; Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is a plan view of a float equipped with the improved water motor to illustrate the manner of mounting the same; Fig. 8 is a sectional view illustrating a braking device for permitting the stoppage and starting of the Water motor as desired; Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view similar to Fig. l but illustrating a modified arrangement of connections between the floats to cause their simultaneous elevation; Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view of the form of the device illustrated in Fig. 9; and Fig. 11 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on the line 1111 of Fig. 9.

As illustrated in the drawings, the improved water motor embodies a rotatable supporting shaft 10 which in practice may be mounted on suitable bearings 11 carried upon a float or support which preferably consists of a pair of sections 12 spaced apart to provide a channel 13, such sections being connected at their ends and held in spaced parallel relation by cross braces 14. Fixed to the shaft 10 adjacent each end thereof is a hub plate or disk 15, said disks being connected and held against independent movement or displacement on the shaft by means of cross braces 16 arranged near the peripheral edges thereof. Fixed to the disks 15 and extending radially outward therefrom are a plurality of arms 17 which near their of bearing plates 23, as by means of bolts 24. These plates bear upon the upper and lower faces of the extensions 18, which latter form bearings for the cross arms during the movements of the latter with respect to the shaft and parts fixed thereto, in a manner to be hereinafter more fully described. In Fig. 4 of the drawings the plates are shown directly contacting with the faces of the tensions while in Fig. 5 of the drawings the plates are provided with inside recesses 25, and said plates are provided with anti-friction means in the form of bearing rollers 26 to reduce friction between the movable and stationary parts.

Rigidly fixed to the extremities of each cross arm by attachment to the spaced bars forming the same are floats 27 preferably in the form of air-tight compartments, and as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings the opposed spaced bars of each cross arm are equi-distantly spaced from the extremities of the shaft or from the longitudinal. center of the shaft whereby the weight of the machine is equalized. Thus it will be seen that when the motor or wheel is mounted in such position that the floats will extend into a body of flowing water in the manner shown in the drawings, the motor will be rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the float first striking the water but being immersed therein previous to its being buoyed by its floating action, and thereby causing the elevation of the cross arm which it supports, whereby the greatest length or part of each cross arm will be disposed above the axis of the machine as the cross arms reach a vertical position during the continuous rotation of the motor. During the continued rotation of the motor the elevated portions will operate to increase the leverage produced and assist by their over-balancing action to rotate the motor. However, in order to prevent the cross arms from falling by gravity after emerging from the water, the plates 23 extend inwardly of the edge portions of the cross bars 21 to pivotally support angular pawls 28, the shorter arms of the pawls normally engaging the ratchet teeth 19 and permitting free elevation of the cross arms by passage of the shorter arm over the teeth but preventing the cross arms from falling by gravity. It is also understood that the longer arms of the pawls are considerably weighted to hold the engaging ends in positive contact with the ratchet teeth during the time that said parts are located above the axis of the machine.

During the shifting of the cross arms it is essential to provide means for limiting the strokes thereof and for this purpose each float is provided with a pair of stops or elastic bumpers 29 and the fixed arms 17 carry loops or guides 30 at their outer sides and neartheir free ends, the spaced parallel end portions of the loops being threaded to receive radially adjustable screws 31 having am nuts 32 mounted thereon to hold the screws against end thrust when secured in a particular adjusted position. These screws are provided with engaging portions 33 to abut the stops or bumpers 29 in the manner shown in Fig; 2 of the drawings. Power may be derived from the rotation of the motor by means of a gear 34 secured to the shaft and such power transmitted to any suitable machinery.

In order to control the stopping and starting of the motor one of the bearings 11 has pivoted thereto, as shown at 35, a pair of brake shoes 36 each having a removable engaging portion 37 to contact a frictional disk 38 fixed to the shaft. The cooperating shoes are provided with upwardly extending ears 39 having oppositely threaded bores designed for engagement of an oppositely threaded screw 40, whereby when the screw is rotated through the instrumentality of a hand wheel 41 the shoes may be shifted in opposite directions to frictionally engage the disk 38 or to be freed therefrom and thus cause the stoppage or rotation of the motor.

In order to guide the cross arms during their movements with respect to the shaft 10, each pair of bars 20 has fixed thereto boxings or bearings 42 in which shafts 43 are journaled alternately around the motors with respect to the adjacent parts of the cross arms on either side of the shaft. Pinions 44 are fixed to the extremities of the shafts 43 and operate against radially extending rack bars 45 fixed to the inner faces of the plates or disks 15, such rack bars being of sufiicient length to permit the full stroke of each cross'arm during the buoyant action thereof. As the teeth of the rack bar are located in the direction of rotation of the wheel with relation to the pinions, the pinions will be caused to bear there-against and the cross arms will thus be guides, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 of the drawings, the shaft 10 is provided with the usual plates 15 having arms 46 fixed thereto and extending radially outward, said arms at spaced points along their inner faces carrying brackets 46 which rotatably support spaced upper and lower bearing rollers 47 and an outer roller 48 at right angles to the roller 47. Floats 49 have inwardly extending arms 50 fixed thereto, said arms terminating adjacent the peripheral edges of the plates and being movable between the bearing rollers 47 and 48. The floats are free to move with respect to the arms 46, but in order to cause their simultaneous movement in opposite direc angular pawls 56 to engage ratchet teeth 57 formed upon the inner faces of the arms 45, so as to holdthe upper and lower floats against movement downwardly as they are .shifted in opposite directions. The operation of this device is the same as that heretofore described, it being observed from Fig. 9 of the drawings that the floats and arms carried thereby are elevated upon assuming a vertical position, with respect to diametrically opposite parts, thus increasing the lengths of the upper arms with respect to their degree of projection radially from the disks or plates 15, thereby tending to overbalance the motor at the left hand side to assist in the rotation thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is 1. In a water motor, the combination with a support and a plurality of floats connected in opposite pairs to rotate in unison and movably carried by said support to shift radially in opposite directions with respect to the support; of means for holding said connected floats against downward movement when elevated by the buoyancy of the lowermost floats in a body of flowing water.

V 2. In a water motor, the combination with a support and a plurality of cross arms and floats movably carried by the support for simultaneous rotation, said cross arms and floats being elevated during the rotation thereof in a body of flowing water to impart rotation to the support and floats carried thereby; of means to retain the floats in elevated positions during the rotation of the parts until the uppermost floats have assumed a position below the horizontal.

3. In a water motor, the combination with a support rotatably mounted and a plurality of floats connected in opposite pairs for simultaneous movement radially with respect to the support and in opposite directions, said pairs of floats being. adapted to be raised by the buoyant action of the lowermost thereof and adapted to receive rotation in a body of flowing water; of means for holding said pairsof floats against downward movement untll after the uppermost floats have reached a position below the horizontal axis of the support, means for guid' ing the floats during their movements, means for deriving power from rotation of the support, and means for effecting the stoppage and starting of the motor.

4. In a water motor, a float having a channelway, a shaft journaled upon the float, plates fixed to the shaft in spaced relation, arms carried by the plates in fixed relation thereto, supporting sections movable with respect to said shaft and arms, floats at the extremities of said sections, means whereby rotation of the parts by the operation of the floats in a body of flowing water will, due to the buoyant action of the floats, elevate diametrically opposite supporting sections, and means to prevent lowering of said parts.

5. In a current motor, a shaft rotatably supported, plates fixed to the shaft and connected in rigid spaced relation, arms carried by the plates projecting radially outwardly therefrom, cross arms slidable with respect to the shaft and plates, said arms having reduced extensions with interior ratchet teeth, cross braces connecting said cross arms in pairs at diametrically opposite sides of the shaft, pawls carried by said cross braces to engage the ratchet teeth and hold the cross arms against movement in. one direction, buoyant members at the ends of the cross arms to cause the elevation of the latter as they rotate in a buoyant body, and means at the ends of the cross arms for slidably engaging the reduced extensions of the fixed arms.

6. In a current motor, a shaft rotatably supported, plates fixed to the shaft and connected in rigid spaced relation, arms carried by the plates projecting radially outwardly therefrom, cross arms slidable with respect to the shaft and plates, said arms having reduced extensions with interior ratchet teeth, cross braces connecting said cross arms in pairs at diametrically opposite sides of the shaft, pawls carried by said cross braces to engage the ratchet teeth and hold the cross arms against movement in one direction, buoyant members at the ends of the cross arms to cause the elevation of the latter as they rotate in a buoyant body, and means for limiting the strokes of the cross arms.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES T. PLUMER.

lVitnesses:

' J. N. MARGUM,

R. B. DICKERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

